The present invention relates to an information displaying method, information displaying device, and computer program for displaying processing results of a computer on a screen. In particular, the present invention relates to an information displaying method, information displaying device, and computer program for displaying information on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen providing a graphics-based operating environment.
More specifically, the present invention relates to an information displaying method, information displaying device, and computer program for displaying objects, such as documents and photographs managed in a hierarchical manner using directories and folders, on a GUI screen in a manner which is easy to see. In particular, the present invention relates to an information displaying method, information displaying device, and computer program for dynamically displaying objects on a GUI screen in a manner that is easy to see in response to changes in the number of icons within a window or frame and changes in the window size or frame size, and the display density of display objects within a display region such as for the number of display objects on a desktop screen or within a window or frame.
With the recent dramatic advances in the field of Information Technology (IT), various kinds of computer systems have been developed and manufactured and have become widespread in universities and institutions, in business offices, and within typical households. In addition to document files in text format, various resource objects such as audio and images are put into digital form and then put into prescribed formats so as to be handled by a computer in a standardized manner.
Further, the majority of recent computer systems also come equipped with bitmap display functions (functions where a display is depicted in pixel units) as a result of improvements in processor computing power and enhancement of video subsystems. Moreover, operating systems (OS) supporting bitmap display formats are replacing character-based DOS screens, i.e., CUIs (Character User Interfaces), with incorporation of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to provide graphics-based operating systems being a well-known common use at the present time.
For example, Macintosh® from Apple Computer, Inc. and Windows® from Microsoft Corporation are well-known GUI-based environments. GUI environments are also being introduced to environments that were not originally designed based on GUIs, such as with the X-window system of the Linux OS.
A desktop and countless icons simulating a computer system are prepared on a display screen under a GUI environment. Here, “desktop” refers to a screen where a user carries out operations, and is a background where display objects such as icons and windows are set up. Further, “icon” refers to a small picture displaying a resource object that can be used on the computer system that may be displayed on the desktop or on a window within the desktop. An “icon” is a symbol embodying a resource object, such as an application, disk drive, folder (directory), or file on a desktop.
A “window” is a frame defining an operating region displayed on the desktop for displaying objects. A “window” is an industry standard, and is taken to have the basic configuration elements of a window title bar and a window border. A “title bar” is a bar for displaying the title of the window and identifies information currently displayed in the window using the title, i.e., resource object entities.
All resource objects handled by a computer system can be expressed as icons on a desktop screen provided by a GUI. Further, the processing of each resource object can be implemented with intuitive operations such as clicking, dragging, and dropping using a mouse.
Moreover, hierarchical methods for managing computer files have also been introduced. Namely, pluralities of files are grouped together in a directory (or folder), and collections of objects comprised of files or directories of the same hierarchy can then be collected together in a higher-order directory. A plurality of windows corresponding to directories are defined on the desktop screen, with icons corresponding to lower order files and directories belonging to a directory being stored within each window.
For example, icons representing files that can be processed, folders and applications can be displayed on the desktop screens provided by OS's, such as Macintosh® from Apple Computer, Inc. or Windows® from Microsoft Corporation, or in an “explorer” window opened in the desktop screen.
Defining a plurality of windows on a screen and arranging icons and thumbnail images corresponding to objects within each window is typical as a method for managing objects such as documents and photographs on a GUI screen. For example, an icon for an object may be added within a certain window, deleted from a window, or moved between windows.
A user can then intuitively understand a situation with regards to managing objects by looking at icons displayed within a window. However, when the number of icons within a window becomes large, it is no longer possible to fit all of the icons within a single window. In this case, a scroll bar is introduced, so as to make the window size larger in a virtual manner to give the appearance that all of the icons fit into the window. However, only a partial region that can be designated using the scroll bar can be confirmed on the screen, with icons outside of this region not being visible. This makes it difficult to discern which files belong to which window. In other words, browsability is impaired.
Further, browsability is also impaired in a similar manner when the number of icons is not changed but the window size is reduced.
Moreover, as when a large number of icons are present within a window, when a large number of windows are open on the desktop screen, the windows may overlap with each other and the screen may similarly become difficult for the user to see.
Even in a situation where all of the objects can be displayed on the desktop or within a window so that browsability can be confirmed, when a background area, i.e., an area where objects are not yet arranged, becomes small, it becomes difficult to see the objects. This area where objects are not yet arranged is a region corresponding to an operating region where new objects can be arranged, with a reduction of this area placing psychological pressure on the user.
For example, an operating method referred to as a “Zooming UI” is possible, in which a user can freely control magnification of specific display targets so that, when a large number of icons are arranged in a large plane, the icons may be compressed so that all of the icons may be seen, while on the contrary, icons may be enlarged when it is desired to see specific icons in more detail. See, for example, K. Perlin et al., “Pad: An Alternative Approach to the Computer Interface” (SIGGRAPH '93, pp. 57-64 (1993)) and B. B. Bedreson et al., “Pad++: A Zooming Graphical Interface for Exploring Alternate Interface Physics” (In Proceedings of the 7th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology).
However, it is extremely difficult to always fit a hierarchical display composed of a plurality of windows in a screen size even when a zooming UI is utilized. Namely, when the display is enlarged only in the vicinity of a specific window, surrounding windows can no longer be displayed on the screen, and browsability is impaired.
Software referred to as “AutoSmall” for automatically switching over to displaying smaller icons when the number of desktop icons increases also exists (for example, refer to http://www.forest.impress.co.jp/article/2002/06/06/okiniiri.ht ml). However, in this case, when the number of icons exceeds a certain fixed value, the icons become small in a rapid and discontinuous manner. It is therefore possible that this will cause the user to feel discomfort and alarm as the user continues to look at the screen. It is therefore preferable to be able to sequentially control whether the background is secure for an operating region such as a desktop in a stage where icons are added sequentially to take into consideration the point of view of visual effects. The present inventors consider the viewpoint of visual effects to be an extremely important element in a GUI environment.